HEALTH: Something hurt? Meditate on it

July 13, 2010

An entire industry seems to have been built around helping women distract themselves from the pain of childbirth.

Yet, new research finds, that the pain of childbirth—as well as the pain of headaches and stomachaches and everything else—might become even more bearable by doing the opposite—focusing on the pain instead.

Researchers at the University of Manchester in the UK used lasers to inflict pain on a group of study subjects and asked them to rate the unpleasantness of the pain. (Note to self: do not look into a career as a study subject.) Everyone in the group should have experienced the same level of pain, but this was not the case. People who meditated regularly reported the pain as less uncomfortable than people who did not.

And their brain response to the pain was different, too. People who did not meditate regularly anticipated the pain before it took place. They mentally braced for it, which made the brain's pain response more intense. The meditators did not do this. They relaxed into it instead.

I've experienced this meditation effect first hand, as I seem to be a pain magnet. I have irritable bowel syndrome, a condition that triggers extreme stomach aches. I also tend to get migraines.

Whether I have a headache or a stomachache, however, I've noticed that the pain seems much more manageable if I simply relax into it rather than fight it. I've learned that fear and anxiety (This is never going to go away! What if this is a brain tumor?! This must be stomach cancer. It hurts too much to be IBS!) and anger (I don't have time for this! This isn't fair. Other people don't have as much pain as I do! What did I do to deserve this?!) only does one thing: makes the pain even worse.

Gentle acceptance doesn't make it go away, but it does lesson it considerably. Sometimes I even bring all of my attention to the painful area. I meditate on the pain.

In this way, the pain becomes a sensation, just like any other.

If you'd like to learn more about how to meditate, click here to read a companion post I wrote on the topic.

Have you ever tried to meditate on pain? What mind-body tactics have you used to reduce pain?